Brassiere



June 3, 1947.

L. HUNAU BRASSIERE Filed July 19, 1946 INVENTOR A ORNEY Patented June 3,1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE nanssntnr:

Lillian Hunau, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application July 19, 1946, Serial No. 684,708 (01. 2-42) 3 Claims.

This invention relates to brassires.

It is an object ofthis invention to provide a brassire which whilegiving to the body the contour of a well-formed bust, will neverthelessserve as a normal brassire that can be put. on and taken off as such.

It is a further object to provide a brassire having breast-building padstherein in which the pads may be firmly and securely held in place, andyet may be easily removed for cleaning.

It is a further object to provide a brassire of the type described whichwill securely hold-the pads in place while on the wearer, and yet willpermit their ready removal when the garment is taken off.

It is a further object to provide a brassire of the type described inwhich the positioning of the breast pads in place over the normal breastis facilitated.

The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture possessingthe features, properties and the relation of elements which will beexemplified. in the article hereinafterdescribed and the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a, perspective view of the new brassire in place upon thefigure. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a section onthe line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is an exploded view showingseparately a section of the pad and of the cover portion of the brassireon the line 44 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a section through the brassire andpad on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

It has heretofore been proposed to provide breast pads, commonly knownas falsies, and a means has been provided to clamp the same in placeabove the breasts. But such garments have been difiicult to maintain inplace, and

have not proven satisfactory.

In accordance with this invention, the brassiere comprises a pair ofbreast pockets l0, united to a body-encircling portion H which may taperto a narrow band at the back as shown at l2. The brassire opens at thefront and is attached together by means of a hook I3 fastened to thebottom edge of one of the breast pockets, and hooking into a pocket llin the bottom edge of the other. A continuous elastic band l5 connectswith the hook and extends along the lower 2 edge of the breast pocketstoward or connecting with the portion I I.

Each breast pocket is in fact a double pocket having an outer layer l6of the contour desired for the breast, and an inner member I! of acontour fitting over the actual breast. Each of these members may beshaped to the contour desired in any customary manner, for example by aseam Ill. The members l6 and H are attached to each other around theirentire periphery except for an opening between a point 20 about midwayof the top of each breast pocket, and a point 2| a little above thecenter of the inside edge. This opening is sufficient to permit theinsertion of the pad 22, but nevertheless leaves the pocket of suchshape as to hold the pad in place vertically and horizontally. Thelocation of the opening leaves a large part of the top closed to resistvertical removal and leaves a large part of the side closed to resistdisplacement toward the center.

The reinforcing pads 22 are composed of two spaced layers of a suitablestiffening material cut and sewn to proper shape, and attached togetheraround their entire periphery, enclosing a layer of padding 24. Thematerial 22 may be so chosen that contact with the outer surface I6 ofthe brassire will give the sense of normal breast tissue to the touchand will not disclose the fact that artificial padding has beeninserted.

It is to be noted that in this brassire the breast pockets are notcircular, but are somewhat straight at their outer edges and tapersomewhat to a point at the inner center, thus conforming more accuratelyto the contour of the natural breast.

The bra-ssire is held in place by shoulder straps 21 attached to theback of the garment, and having at the front end a buckle 28 throughwhich thereextends a loop, the outer edge, 29, of which is sewn into theseam between the members I6 and I1 adjacent to the point 20. The otherend, 30, of each loop is preferably provided with a snap fastener 3|,and by it attached to the other half of the snap fastener upon the innermember II.

By the foregoing arrangement it will be clear that the opening of thesnap fastener not only greatly facilitates the insertion of the padwithin the pocket, and its readjustment in position when required, butit also relieves the tension of the,

shoulder straps to facilitate adjustment of the position of the padabove the breast.

I prefer to apply the male half of the snap fastener to the free end ofthe loop to prevent it slipping out of the buckle when detached from themember II.

The front opening of this brassiere is made practical by reason of thefact that the inside of the breast pocket is shallow to fit over acomparatively small breast. Thus no difliculty is experienced in placingthe pockets over the breasts while fastening the garment. This isparticularly true because the connectors are near the bottom corner ofthe pockets so that the pockets can be held in place on the body whileconnecting the fastener.

It will also be noted that the elastic i at the bottom of the pocketscause the lower garment at the edge of the pockets to grip the body,thus preventing the garment from riding up.

The fact that the inner end of the loop is attached only to the innermember I! causes the garment to adjust itself to breasts of differentsizes, in that if the breast be insuflicient to fill the inside of thepad 22, the inner surface i! will be pulled up tight over the breastwithout disturbing the pad.

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction anddifferent embodiments of the invention could be made without departingfrom the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in theabove description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which as amatter of language might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim:

1. A brasslere comprising a pair of breast cups,

. 4 each comprising an inner and an outer member fanning a pocketbetween them. a formed pad inserted in said pocket, said members beingsewed together around their peripheries except from a point intermediatethe top edge to a point intermediate the inner edge, said cups beingconnected together only at their lower inner edges. and a bodyencircling band attached to the outer edges of said cups, each cuphaving a shoulder strap and a loop connected by a buckle, the back endof said shoulder strap being connected to the body encircling portion,one end of said loop being connected to both of said members adjacent tosaid point intermediate the top edge, and the other end of said loopbeing connected to the inner member at a point intermediate between theends 0' said opening.

2. A device according to claim 1 in which the last named end of the loopis detachably attached to the inner member to facilitate removing thegarment, and to facilitate removal of the pad.

3. A device according to claim 1 in which the breast cups extend towardeach other at the bottom, and in which one is provided with an eye andthe other with a mating hook at their lower inner edges so that thegarment may be opened and closed at the front.

LILLIAN HUNAU.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

